Improved table-leaf support



noaa )eine pene appa.

WARREN R. BRIGfGrS,l OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO M. Gr.

" BRIGGS, OF SAME PLAGE. A

Letters Patent No. 99,829, dated February 15, 1870.

`The Schedule referred to n these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all to whom these presents shall come:

Be it known that I, WARREN R. BmGGs, of Boston, of the county of Suolk, and State of Massachusetts, have made an invention of a new and useful Mode of Sustaining the Folding Leaves of a Table in a Horizontal Position; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and inwhich Figure l is an under-side view, and

Figures2 and 3, transverse sections of a table in which my invention is' embodied.

This invention consists in pivoting to thej under side of each Yhinged leaf of a table one or more braces or supports under such an arrangement that upon raising thel leaf to a horizontal position, for the purpose of increasing the size of the table, such braces or supports shall be locked automatically to the frame of such table, and with the leaf maintained in this position, the release of the braces and consequently of the lfixed position of the leaf being effected by'means of a small button or tl1umb-piece,atiixed to one side of the rod upon which the braces are mounted, in manner as hereinafter stated, the purpose of this invention being to effect rapidly and with very little exertion the locking of the leaves of the table in a horizontal position.

In the drawings accompanying this specication, and which illustrate my invention, a table of ordinary manufacture is 'exhibited at- A, the component parts of which are fourV legs, represented at a a a a., and

and four connecting rails, seen at b lfb b, the center or fixed portion ofthe top of the table being shown at c, and its hinged or folding leaves at d cl.

In carrying out my present invention I mountupon the under side of each leaf d and in suitable bearings or steps e e a rod or wire, f, while upon such rod I aiiix one or more curved braces or supports, g g, extending inwardly toward the centre of the table and passing through apertures `h made in each side rail b" or` 11.

The inner end of each brace is formed. with a lip or catch, t, to take hold upon the adjacent rail of the table, and the rod f should be supplied. with a laterally-projecting lip or thumb-piece, j, by means of which it may be partially turned in its bearings e e.

Upon raising the leaf into a horizontal position, the braces as a matter of necessity follow the movement, and are moved outwardly until the lip or catch j of each drops outside of the rail of the table, by this means locking and maintaining the leaf in its proper relationship to the rest of the table.

When it becomes desirable to lower the leaf the thumb or finger is to be applied to the lip j and the latter raised, which eiects a partial rotation of the rod fand raises the free end of the braces to such an extent as to free their catches from contact with the rail of the table and allow the leaf to lbe lowered, the bracesiu the act passing inwardly into the space below the center of the table.

I have contemplated inserting a spring betweenthe tableleaf wit-houtthe disagreeable trouble now neces l' sary tol eiect the result.

Claim. I claim the construction and arrangement upon the leaf ofjth'e table, and in relation to the slots in the ta-l ble frame, of the rod j' with its lip j and the curved supports g, in the manner shown andset forth.

WARREN R. BRIGGS. Witnesses:

FRED. CURTIS, EDWARD GRIFFITH. 

